[chottala.com] Pakistan Suicide Attack Kills 23 People, Injures 70

By Farhan Sharif and Khalid Qayum

Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- At least 23 people, most of them policemen, were killed and 70 others injured in a suicide bomb attack in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, two weeks after former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated.

The bomb exploded at 11:40 a.m. local time at a police checkpoint in the General Post Office Chowk area, Aftab Cheema, senior police superintendent, said in a telephone interview from Lahore.

A large number of police had been deployed in the area because of a protest rally planned by lawyers. ``The suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into a police van when officers tried to stop him from entering the area,'' Cheema said.

More than 600 people have been killed in suicide attacks across the country since July, the army has said. Pakistan's military has been fighting pro-Taliban militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan since 2003.

Fighting has intensified since troops stormed Islamabad's Red Mosque in July, ending a challenge to the government by pro- Taliban clerics seeking to impose Islamic law in the capital.

Former premier Bhutto was killed in an attack in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad, on Dec. 27 after she addressed an election rally.

Religious Violence

Today's explosion came on the eve of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar and a time when Shiite Muslims mourn the death of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, 14 centuries ago. In the past, Shiite congregations have been attacked during this month, allegedly by Sunni Muslims, who are in a majority in Pakistan.

The fight against terrorism won't be deterred by today's attack, President Pervez Musharraf said in a statement, the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The U.S. condemned the attacks, calling the bombing a ``terrible, tragic act of terrorism,'' State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters in Washington.

The police were the target of today's attack, Interior Ministry Spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema, said in a telephone interview from Islamabad. A 14-kilogram (30-pound) bomb was used in the attack, GEO television reported, citing the bomb disposal squad.

``Almost all the injured are policemen and are badly wounded,'' Fayyaz Ahmed Ranjha, medical superintendent at Lahore's Mayo Hospital, said in a telephone interview.

As many as 70 people were injured in the explosion and 22 of the 23 killed were policemen, Qamar Parvez, a spokesman for Edhi Foundation, the biggest ambulance service, said in a phone interview from Karachi.

Stocks Decline

The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange 100 share index fell 1.3 percent to 14,083.06 at the 2:15 p.m. close after the attack. The index had risen 0.4 percent before the explosion.

Body parts were strewn on the street near the Lahore High Court, where the blast occurred, GEO TV said. Black smoke rose into the air after the powerful explosion, GEO said.

Policemen were shown on GEO television lying injured on the street. The street was littered with police helmets and shields since officers had gathered to provide security for the rally.

``Our lawyers' rally had just started, and we stopped when we heard the blast,'' Muhammad Ashraf Wahlah, member of the Pakistan Bar Council, said in a telephone interview from Lahore. ``No lawyers were hurt in the explosion.''

Lawyers have held a rally in Lahore every Thursday for the past two months to protest against Musharraf's decision to remove Supreme Court judges on Nov. 3 and detain members of the legal community, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Farhan Sharif in Karachi at fsharif2@bloomberg.net ; Khalid Qayum in Islamabad at kqayum@bloomberg.net .

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